Wow, after all the fantastic trip reports lately, I feel like I have a lot to live up to! But hopefully it will be helpful if even one future traveler gets an idea or recommendation, or even learns from our mistakes. Here goes: The flight/hotel combo was booked 6 months ago through Expedia, which turned out to be a good thing, since prices have seemingly been going up by the hour since then. The travelers included myself (age 49), my mother (a young 69!), my sister (45), and my daughter (21). Since I did the confusing thing and named my daughter after my sister, they will now be known as T1(sister) and T2(daughter). We have all been to the city at least once before and all love it!
DAY ONE - Thursday, Sept. 1
Arrived at LGA 20 minutes early, picked up our luggage, and headed out to catch a taxi. We told the yellow cab representative there that we would prefer a minivan, and after a quick chat on his walkie-talkie, we had a minivan there within 5 minutes. Traffic wasn%26#39;t bad, so we arrived at the Affinia 50 about 25 minutes later. The driver let us off at the corner of 50th and 3rd, and the doorman saw us from up the street and came running with a cart to help us. Check-in was smooth, the staff was super-friendly, and our room was already ready even though it was just past noon. We were extremely impressed with our very large, very clean one-bedroom suite, and felt like we were staying in our own little apartment! The kitchen had a full-sized fridge, a stove, microwave and dishwasher. I highly recommend this hotel.
We set out to find something for lunch, and without even trying, managed to come across the Cafe at St. Bart%26#39;s very close to the hotel. (Thanks for the recommendation, Ruffian.) We had about a 15 minute wait, but it was worth it to eat outside in the gorgeous weather, and just take in the atmosphere of the city. The food was good, and T2 said she had the best tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich that she%26#39;s ever had in her life! (I guess that doesn%26#39;t say much about my cooking, does it?) After lunch, we headed up to Fifth Ave. and stopped in St. Patrick%26#39;s Cathedral, which was absolutely magnificent. I can%26#39;t get over the beauty and just the size of it - a real sanctuary in the middle of midtown madness. We then stopped at H%26amp;M so T2 could find that one article of clothing out of hundreds that she just couldn%26#39;t live without, which of course, she did. Then off to my favorite, Tiffany%26#39;s! I was very happy with my little blue box that contained the cutest pair of silver earrings. After a visit to FAO Schwartz, we decided to head back toward the hotel to rest up and get ready to see Hairspray. (Tickets purchased in advance - thanks broadwaynyc for the discount code!) On the way back, we stopped at Ess-a-Bagel to pick up some bagels for breakfast in the morning, and walked across the street to a store called Azure for milk, juice, cereal and soft drinks. T2 is a poor college student, so we figured eating breakfast in the room would help her have more money for shopping, which she would much rather do than eat anyway!
We got ready for the show and then realized that we didn%26#39;t really have much time to eat at a nice sit-down place and make it to the show on time. I had taken a huge list with me of restaurants that all the great TA posters had recommended, but we ended up eating at (and I%26#39;m so embarrassed to admit this) Chipotle on 52nd St. I love Chipotle, but we have them all over the place here in Columbus, and we eat there all the time. I%26#39;m sitting there thinking, ';Here we are in the most wonderful city with the most wonderful restaurants, eating at (horror of horrors) a chain restaurant!'; But it was fast, and we walked to the Neil Simon Theater with time to spare.
I met up at the theater with a co-worker of mine that was in New York for one night before leaving on a cruise. What a great show! Anyone that is trying to decide what to see on Broadway should definitely consider this one. It is so funny, and just a joy to watch from beginning to end. Bruce Villanch did a little ad-libbing at times that just made it that much funnier. We were also quite touched when he stayed onstage at the end and asked that the audience donate money on the way out to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. After the show, I showed my co-worker around Times Square a bit, then headed back to the hotel, exhausted but exhilarated at the same time.
DAY TWO - Friday, Sept. 2
After a breakfast of those superb bagels, we headed to the subway and bought the $10, 6-ride MetroCards to begin our journey for the day. The plan was to explore Greenwich Village, so we took the #6 train to Bleecker St. This is where things started going a little wrong. *Note to future travelers - take along a very good map of this area, and have some idea of where you would like to go. It is very easy to get confused and/or completely lost!* I had the CityWalks cards with me, but we still had trouble getting our bearings and ended up wandering around Soho, Noho, and who knows what other ';ho';, as we were pretty lost! Through all this T2 still managed to find some little shops with more clothing that was just calling her name, and she found a ';to die for'; little jacket at H%26amp;M that they didn%26#39;t have in her size on Fifth Ave. We ended up in the East Village and were starving by this time, but we weren%26#39;t finding much except McDonald%26#39;s, which I absolutely refused to visit! We finally came upon Ray%26#39;s Pizza on St. Mark%26#39;s. I know the Seinfeld joke about all the different Ray%26#39;s, and how no one knows which is the original, but let me say that this one was really good. Now, this is where things get a little weird! T2 had been wanting to get a tattoo now that she%26#39;s 21, and she%26#39;d been after me to get one with her. Just a bit of history - I am your typical Midwestern soccer mom type, a little shy, and not the least bit wild or very adventurous. T1 had been thinking about it, too, so we headed up St. Mark%26#39;s to look at possible places to do this, thinking all along that we all would probably chicken out before actually going ahead with it. To make a long story short - we did it, including 69-year-old Mom! The tattoos are all very, very small, in a hidden location so that most of our friends won%26#39;t even know unless we tell them. We call it our ';New York bonding experience.'; The young man that did it was a real sweet guy, kind of quiet, who was a little taken aback by the crazy ladies from Ohio. The girls at work still can%26#39;t believe I did it!
We left the tattoo studio and found a tiny little hole-in-the-wall shop with Pommes Frites, where they served yummy Belgian fries with different types of sauces, served in paper cones that fit perfectly into little holes drilled in the table just for that purpose. I am more of a simple gal, so I just dipped mine in ketchup! We left there and headed west, hoping to see more of the Village, and ended up in another shop with T2, where she found something she liked, but got tired of waiting in the long checkout line, so she left empty-handed, much to her dismay. By this time, Mom was about worn out, so she took a cab back to the hotel and ordered room service for dinner. T1, T2 and I walked around a bit more and found Washington Square (with the most hideous restrooms I%26#39;ve ever seen) and the NYU area before walking around somewhat aimlessly until we couldn%26#39;t take another step! We were having trouble finding a subway station that would take us back without a bunch of transfers, so we gave in and took a cab back to midtown east, picked up some sandwiches and fruit along the way, and ate dinner in our room. We were all asleep by 10:00. Who knew that being totally clueless and lost could be so tiring?
Very Long Trip Report - too excited to write a short one...Part 11 please.....tattoo%26#39;s in the East Village.....COOL!!!!!!
Agree about Hairspray, a great choice for anyone.
Very Long Trip Report - too excited to write a short one...OMG tattoo%26#39;s!!!
So excited to hear about your approval of Affinia 50. We (family of three) are staying there 12/25 - 1/1. Can%26#39;t wait. Second visit in 8 months. We stayed at Embassy Suites before and really loved it but a bit out of the hub of things.
How far is the subway station from Affinia 50? What other places to eat and shop close by? My daughter is 17 and taking all her Xmas money for shopping.
Can%26#39;t wait for the adventure to continue. Don%26#39;t leave us hanging. Thanks!!!
tatoos!
have not read any questions from folks about that
if they do, we know who to go to for answers
by the way, I went to high school in Dublin, OH
and my parents still live there
also, fyi, Bruce Villanch is not longer in HAIRSPRAY
he left after a year on Broadway
his last day was Sept 4
taxiplease, the subway station we used most is just about a block away. There is also one at Lexington and 53rd that we used a lot. We took the #4, #6 and E lines to get us pretty much everywhere. Look at menupages.com and click on ';midtown east'; for a listing of restaurants in the area. Most of the time we weren%26#39;t around the hotel when we got hungry, so we didn%26#39;t eat at many of the local ones. As for shopping, you are just a few blocks away from Fifth Ave., and the greatest shopping area! With a teenager, go to H%26amp;M and to Zara%26#39;s, on 54th and Fifth. My 21-year-old loved them both. Have a great time at the Affinia 50. I can%26#39;t imagine that anyone wouldn%26#39;t like it there!
broadwaynyc - I can%26#39;t believe you%26#39;re from Dublin! Did you go to Coffman or Scioto? How did you end up in the big city? I have family in Hilliard, Worthington, Columbus and Grove City. Such a small world!
NYCforMe,
When I was in high school there was only one in Dublin. I suppose that dates me? ;-)
I%26#39;m not actually in the big city. I live in central NJ.
Loved the tale about the tatttoos..your mum is a brave woman! Looking forward to the next part.
I too have been thinking about getting a tattoo whilst in NYC, did it hurt? Did you find the place to be nice?? What was in called?
Enjoyed reading part one of your report, am now going to read part two... :o)
Diva78, two of us said it didn%26#39;t hurt much, and two of us said it hurt a lot! Let%26#39;s just say it wasn%26#39;t fun, but for the 15 or 20 minutes it took, it was tolerable. The place we went to was called ';Whatever'; on St. Mark%26#39;s St. It is a small place, but the people there were very patient with us and all our questions. The artist was named El-E, and he showed us how sanitary it was. T1 is a nurse, and she was satisfied that it was safe. It seems a bit crazy, but I don%26#39;t regret doing it. It was all a part of our New York experience! Let us know if you end up getting one on your trip, too.
Thanks NYCforme. I would only go for something small that would take this amount of time anyway.
Did you find the after effects bearable whilst you continued your hol?
No comments:
Post a Comment